The Rockets have a way to beat the Lakers. Game 1 has shown us that. And it's similar to the way other teams that have given the Lakers fits have gone at them. The Rockets have to take the ball to the rack. The Lakers have NO perimeter quickness outside of Kobe. None. We should, of course, establish Yao on the low block, but when Yao is out of the game, if we run one more post up for Cato or Spoon, Rat Van Gundy needs to be fired on the spot. When Yao is out of the game, pull those guys out of the post and make the Lakers guard SF, JJ, and Mobley off the dribble. Space it out, clear the lane, and let these guys drive. We'll get easy buckets, trips to the foul line, and may pick up some fouls on Shaq.
yep...drive to the wall.....works. If not JVG's stupid defense, we will score more points, at least it's more watchable. only one thing, maybe we won't in the playoff in first place with that D.
When Yao is not in the game, Shaq will be able to patrol the paint and send back any penetrators. The penetration was best last night when Yao was setting picks. Another play that comes to mind is the one where shaq had his back turned because he was busy battling yao, and steve took it right at him. With that said, Steve can still penetrate to find the shooters even when Yao is gone. The last play of the game is a good example.
I agree. Their perimeter D is really bad. In the 4th quarter Steve was getting by Payton at will. He doesn't really need to do all that fancy dribbling either, he was blowing right by "The Glove" without trying to get him off balance. I think Mobley can be successful against Kobe also. And Mo was abusing Karl Malone in the post, off the dribble, from outside, etc. Also, I am not impressed with the Laker vets perimeter shooting. If the trend continues, we can't allow Shaq to take Yao one-on-one, especially early in the game. We need to protect him on defense with Cato and double teams. That said, Shaq looked tired last night, since he couldn't just steamroll over Yao all the time and had to actually guard him on defense. Plus, Shaq was getting knocked to the floor and wasn't getting back on defense. We need to expose him and force Kobe to continue taking the ball 1-on-2 and 1-on-3.
Agree as well. Shaq never once left Yao open. He completely covered him from 18 feet on in. We need to take advantage of that. No one else on the Laker's can defend the basket other than Shaq. For game 2 offense, we need to look for Mo more down low and he needs to learn to kick out against the double team. I'd also like to see Steve penetrating earlier in the game. It seems like his best pass is penetrating then kicking.
Lets hope the official tighten up the calls, it was way too physical for anybody including shaq. Just about half the turnovers and missed fg's were caused by contact that would be usually called a foul. THe lakers defense was extremely good in the first half as well as ours was,but the lakers do not play good consistant defense as shown with their 2nd half effort. Yao was widely ineffective on offense most likely because he tired out guarding shaq, but was able to draw out shaq to give SF and MoT room to work down low. As jungie correctly pointed out (wierd im agreeing with jungie) we were able to penetrate at will in the 2nd half. The key matchup will be SF vs their PGs and MoT vs their PFs. In malones current state he is not able to guard MoT and Slava has no chance to contain Mo. IF SF can cut down on his turnovers then i would turn him lose on the offensive end. JVG has to be able to recognize these mismatches for us to succeed. As for Yao I would like to see him get a lil more touches early in the count and see if he can get us some easy buckets and see if he can get going against shaq. Yao was not really assertive on the offensive end as he usually is agianst shaq, but i woudlnt be surprised if yao is not able to score against shaq.
Even though the Rockets lost, it shows that that if they cut down on the turnovers just a bit, they can beat the Lakers. Game 1 was both dissapointing and encouraging for me, because it shows that the Lakers are not comfortable with being pushed back when they push, and they don't like it when a team gets though on them like the Rockets did, the Rockets have a real chance to steal one and probably even win the series against the Lakers. I was also surprised that Boki got some playoff minutes which is a very good thing for his confidence, hopefully he can contribute next game.
Juggie's right. Francis got the biggest mismatch in the series. If he can bring his A game, and Yao can at least contain Shaq somewhat, the Rockets will be in good shape, cuz we know Cat Mobley got Kobe on lock.
I agree, we should milk SF crossover and drive move until it runs dry. Seriously. They were completely preparred to make sure Yao doesn't go off. The double teams were quick, and the paint was crowded. BUT when everyone was on the perimeter, they had no way to stop SF when he drove to the rim. They are really slow, I am loving how we played them yesterday. Even though it was a loss. It was still a great game.
I have to admit that I agree with what Bill Walton said last night. As others in the thread have pointed out, Shaq was RIGHT up in Yao's face all night, even from as far as 18 feet out. That's the only way to beat the Lakers, is to draw Shaq away from the basket. Not only does it open up more open shot opportunities in the paint, but especially playing against a Lakers team with no Horace Grant and a one-legged Karl Malone, we can DOMINATE the glass in this series. We have some of the best rebounding guards in the league, as well as Cato who doesn't seem to do much else BUT rebound. I think that the Rockets need to take Shaq outside more often to open up the post a lot more, especially the way that Mo was able to score against Karla last night.
I agree, JVG needs to adapt to the personnel he has on the floor when Yao is out. How many ineffective plays did we see run for MoT? I think SF shoulda gotten the green light to play Fast and Furious. Mix things up a bit. The offense is constantly hampered and handcuffed by JVG's inability to adjust
you know the Lakers perimeter D is Bad when the Laker radio commentators are saying put Fisher in for Payton
So true, since Shaq has fully comitted to defend Yao, when Yao is not very effective on low post against Shaq, he can come out to high post to set the pick and draw Shaq out of post area and open driving lane for our guards. The Guards need to make smarter decision after the pick though.
